“I think I always felt like getting dressed was an art project,” said Ayana Morse, the founder of Seconds Thrift Shop on Damon Road in Northampton.
In her light-filled, brand-new, kids’ secondhand store this March, Morse pulled up a tiny chair from the children’s drawing table and invited the Gazette on a trip back in time.
Morse, who grew up in Northampton, vividly remembers shopping with her friends at thrift stores like Roz’s place, which opened in 1990, “to put together wacky outfits.” Her third-grade school photo, featured on Seconds’ website, is a prime example.
“The shirt that I’m wearing has like newsprint and then letters in all different fonts and sizes and colors,” said Morse with a laugh. “There’s a lot happening, and I think I was wearing a plaid skirt with it that you can’t see in the picture.”
Now a mother of three children who are 8, 12 and 14, Morse is inspired by her own adolescence — and how fun it was to dress for it — and their style preferences as they explore who they are through what they wear.
Ode to joy
The word “joy” came up more than once during a tour of the space at 141 Damon Road, which housed the Northampton School of Dance until it closed during the pandemic.
On the front windows, dancers plie, leap and break into a handstand. Originally designed as white bodies in motion, now they wear colorful painted garments. Inside the former studio, once painted purple, soft white walls allow the retro clothes to take up space. Moving clockwise from the front door, clothing racks feature jeans in adult sizes, geared toward teenagers, and progress to tween/teen-sized black dresses, a table of vintage band T-shirts, and a collection of baby and kids’ sizes.
On the far wall are floor-to-ceiling mirrors where Morse said girls in particular love to twirl in new outfits. Others opt to do cartwheels, and boys generally run laps around the clothing.
Set back from the mirrors is a rack of spring dresses, a couch and the drawing table. During the tour, a pile of artwork was strewn across it. One was a recently finished masterpiece with the message: “I LOVE SECONDS.”
“That was my daughter,” Morse said.
‘So much potential’
The store is supplied with donations supplemented by vintage wholesale items, which Morse ordered by the pound. One way or the other, it all gets reused.
“We curate everything that comes in,” she said. “So anything that’s stained or ripped or not quite our style vibe, we’re passing along to the bins outside of Bridge Street School.”
The school partners with Bay State Textiles School Box Program to recycle the clothing, and Morse said Seconds has provided them about 200 pounds so far. In the future, she aims to put 5 percent of sales toward education- and youth-centered local causes.
While the store is currently open three days per week and by-appointment, Morse sees many possibilities for expansion, though she currently works full-time as the executive director for a national nonprofit.
She envisions working with AOK Community Closet in Holyoke, which raises awareness about the foster care system. AOK’s physical location shut down a few weeks ago due to lack of funding, but they are still offering services online.
She’d also like to partner with the Northampton Parents Center, a drop-in center for children and their caregivers. And she has spoken with Grove House Sewing Studio in Florence about a combined teen alterations workshop.
“There’s so much potential here for community-building that I can’t get to yet with the amount of time that I have,” said Morse.
Luckily, her family is pitching in. Her 12-year-old helped her paint the studio and manages the social media accounts. Her 8-year-old comes in once a week to show her support, and her 14-year-old gives her design advice.
Her husband, who, in a way, she actually met through thrifting, is also in her corner.
After growing up in Northampton, Morse went to Emerson College in Boston to study theater, but ended up switching to costume design. While directing a play her husband was acting in, they started a relationship. The play was performed among the clothing racks at the Garment District, a 12,000-square-foot thrift store in Cambridge. The two, she said, went on to spend “a good amount of time trading pants.”
Upon graduation, she worked as an independent fashion designer who hosted shows in the Boston area and New York City. Then she and her husband moved to Los Angeles, where they both began working for nonprofits. After having their children, the family decided to relocate to Northampton in 2018.
Since opening the store in January, said Morse, there has been “an outpouring of excitement” from families in the community.
“So many people have been like, ‘Oh my gosh, we need this,’” she said, noting that parents enjoy the space just as much as kids do. “It’s fun. And it’s so sweet to see kids feeling like they’re in a space that’s for them. To see the 5- and 6-year-olds be like, ‘Wait a second — you have Spider-Man on a T-shirt!’ is so cute. Or the sixth graders finding dresses for their first dance. It’s very dear.”
